Conventionally, a game system has been known in which a general television device (first video output device) and a controller (second video output device) including a display section capable of video output, which is different from the first video output device, are used in combination. In such a game system, for example, a first game video is displayed on the television device, and a second game video different from the first game video is displayed on the display section of the controller, thereby proposing a new game.
However, the above-mentioned proposal has focused mainly on what kinds of videos are to be displayed and how to display the videos in relation to game processing. Therefore, processing relating to audio has been neither mentioned nor proposed in particular.
Therefore, an object of the exemplary embodiments is to provide a game system, a game apparatus, a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having a game program stored thereon, and a game processing control method, which are capable of providing a player with a new game using sound output devices that are physically different from each other. It is noted that examples of the computer-readable storage medium include magnetic media such as a flash memory, a ROM, and a RAM, and optical media such as a CD-ROM, a DVD-ROM, and a DVD-RAM.
The above object is achieved by the following configurations, for example.
An exemplary configuration is a game system including a game apparatus, a first output device having a first display section and a first sound output section, and a second output device having a second display section and a second sound output section. The game apparatus includes an image generation section, a sound generation section, and a sound signal transmission section. The image generation section generates a first image to be displayed on the first display section, and a second image to be displayed on the second display section. The sound generation section generates, based on the same sound data, a first sound signal to be output to the first sound output section, and a second sound signal to be output to the second sound output section. The sound signal transmission section transmits the first sound signal to the first sound output section, and transmit the second sound signal to the second sound output section. The sound signal transmission section transmits the first sound signal such that a timing to transmit the first sound signal to the first sound section is delayed by a predetermined time with respect to a timing to transmit the second sound signal to the second audio section.
According to the exemplary configuration, for example, under the situation where a player needs to gaze at the second output device, the player's line of sight is prevented from being guided to the first output device, and thus the state where the player gazes at the second output device can be maintained.
In another exemplary configuration, the first output device may be a monitor device which includes or is connectable to predetermined loudspeakers as the first sound section. In addition, the second output device may include a housing which is small enough to be held by a player. The second sound output section may be integrated with the housing.
In another exemplary configuration, the sound signal transmission section may transmit the first sound signal such that the transmission timing of the first sound signal is delayed with respect to the transmission timing of the second sound signal, so that a player can recognize that the same sound based on the same sound data is output from each of the first sound output section and the second sound output section, and the player can comprehend the content of the output sound.
In another exemplary configuration, the sound signal transmission section may transmit the first sound signal to the first sound output section such that the transmission timing of the first sound signal is delayed by a value in a range from 20 ms to 100 ms with respect to the transmission timing of the second sound signal.
In still another exemplary configuration, the image generation section may generate, as the first image, an image of a virtual space based on a first virtual camera, and generate, as the second image, an image of the virtual space based on a second virtual camera.
In still another exemplary configuration, the second output device may further include an operation data generation section configured to generate operation data based on an operation performed by a player. In addition, the game apparatus may further include a game processing section configured to perform a game process based on the operation data.
According to the exemplary embodiments, when the attention of a player needs to be kept on the second output device, the player's line of sight is prevented from being guided to the first output device, and thus the state where the attention of the player is kept on the second output device can be maintained.